Never ending school year
by Zino
Summary: Ash is the new boy at school and with friends like Brendan and Lucas, his year will be filled with non-stop drama! AU, Ash/Paul, Brendan/Steven, Lucas/Volkner, Misty/Richie, May/Drew, N/Hilbert. Full summary and other pairings inside.
1. Trailer

**Title: **Never-ending school year  
><strong>Author: <strong>Zino  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Genre: <strong>Romance, drama, humor, AU  
><strong>Pairings: <strong>Like zillion... Ash/Paul, Brendan/Steven, Lucas/Volkner, Misty/Richie, May/Drew, N/Hilbert, Kenny/Dawn/Conway, Cheren/Hilda etc...  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I don't own anything!  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Nothing is easy for Ash when he transfers to a new high-school on his final year. With two new best friends, Brendan and Lucas, there's always drama around. And... no way Ash is falling for his jerk classmate Paul, who also happens to be his partner in an important school project! Can all this crazy drama really have a nice happy ending?

**A/N: **I wasn't gonna write this. But then again, I really, really wanted to write this! I know high school is like sooo overused plot. But... I can still give it a go, right? I've never written any school stories and Pokémon -fandom was just perfect as there are so many pairings I wanted to write about. :D I will get a beta before first chapter. (Again, if anyone is willing to do the job, mostly checking grammar erros, plase, let me know!) Alright, so this will also be my first multi-chaptered Pokémon (and English) fic, so lets see how things will go. But here's a trailer for you. Hope you can enjoy. And again, sorry for any grammar mistakes. :D

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><p>TRAILER<p>

**NEVER-ENDING SCHOOL YEAR**

**It's not always easy to a be a new guy...  
><strong>"Mmm, the new boy is kinda cute."  
>"M-misty!"<br>"Forget about her, Richie, it's not like you're ever gonna get her anyway."  
>"G-gary! Keep your voice down! She can hear you!"<p>

**...in a crowded high-school classroom...  
><strong>"Ouch, you just stepped on my hair!"  
>"Is that green... eh, thing your hair?"<br>"Now, now Hilbert, apologize, N here is a very sensitive person."  
>"N? That's not even a real name!"<br>"Sniff..."  
>"Gosh, now you made him cry... again!"<p>

**...trying to make new friends...  
><strong>"So I'm Lucas and this little gay is Brendan."  
>"Oy, I'm not gay!"<br>"Oh, so you weren't thinking about hitting on Ash on the lunch break?"  
>"Well..."<p>

**...and avoid making any more enemies.  
><strong>"What do you mean we have two leading stars this year?"  
>"Well, as you can see, May..."<br>"Are the two pretty ladies talking about me by any chance?"  
>"Drew, hi, yes, actually we were. I was just explaining May here that..."<br>"That I won't forgive you this... Drew! Nobody takes _my _leading role without paying for it!"

**And when your teacher walks in...  
><strong>"Okay, just one word, whoah!"  
>"...Brendan, you're drooling..."<br>"C'mon Lucas, just look at him. Perfect. Absolutely _perfect._"  
>"You do remember that Steven is our teacher, right?"<br>"Makes me want him even more!"

**...he just has to make your life even harder.  
><strong>"Ash, you'll be Paul's pair in this project."  
>"WHAT?"<br>"No way, not that new loser!"  
>"Hey, that was rude!"<br>"Oh shut the fuck up, will ya?"

**But will you let this get you down...  
><strong>"I just can't take that jerk, Paul anymore!  
>"But you don't wanna fail the course, right?"<br>"I don't, but just... argh! He doesn't even talk to me!"  
>"He doesn't? But I thought..."<br>"I don't count insulting as talking!"

**...or will you come out on top?  
><strong>"So which one you would be... you know, on top?"  
>"Brendan!"<br>"Well sorry, but you'll have to start thinking about these things now!"

**Supporting your friends on a way...  
><strong>"He... he has someone else!"  
>"I told you this would happen."<br>"Yeah..."  
>"...Sorry Lucas, come here and I'll give you a hug."<br>"Thanks, Barry."

**...you will fight your way through this crazy year...  
><strong>"This time, my seduction plan won't fail!"  
>"How do you know that for sure?"<br>"Just trust me, Lucas. I have a secret weapon."  
>"...Is that a condom you are hiding behind your back?"<br>"Oops. You weren't supposed to see that."  
>"Brendan, ewww! You're not doing it here! Get out!"<p>

**...trying to have that famous happy ending.  
><strong>"That's it, I'm gonna ask him to a date today."  
>"What? Are you sure he will agree, Ash?"<br>"...I'll probably come back with a black eye..."  
>"Yeah, if you're super lucky."<p>

_**Zino**_** proudly presents...  
><strong>"Your stupid roses aren't working for me. I still despise you."  
>"Despise all you want. But we are still doing that kissing-scene together."<br>"_What_ kissing-scene?"  
>"Oh, didn't Dawn tell you, she changed the script a little."<br>"Dawn, come here right now, so I can kill you with my bare hands!"

_**...Never-ending school year!  
><strong>_"I wish this year would never end!"  
>"Why's that?"<br>"I'd have more time to make out with Steven!"  
>"Ash?"<br>"Yes, Lucas?"  
>"Please, punch me next time before I'll ask Brendan anything."<br>"Okay."


	2. Can I go home now?

**A/N: **The first chapter's here! I feel like it could use a little more colorful language and more description but this was the best I could do this time, trying to improve for the next chapter then. And since I have so many characters in this story, not every chapter is gonna focus on only Ash like this chapter does. In different chapters different people get more or less spotlight since I don't want to make this too confusing by putting too many "main" characters in a one chapter. (I hope at least somebody got what I was trying to explain :''D) But anyway, thanks again for reading this and all the lovely reviews! :D I hope you can enjoy this. ^^

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 1 – CAN I GO HOME NOW?<strong>

What is it with all the mothers always saying everything will be fine and you'll make tons of great new friends and everyone will love you, my sweet little baby? How do they always make everything sound so easy and piece of cake? At the moment, Ash wasn't sure if he should love or hate his mother. Everything wasn't fine and he definitely wasn't alright. More like, he was completely lost. Okay, maybe not completely. He knew where the principal's office was, because he had just come from there and it was right behind his back. But Ash had absolutely no idea where to go next. The principal had been a lot like his mother; as cheerful, saying those empty words, like how Ash would be okay and everyone would surely love him. Yeah, sounds pretty great, but how about giving better instructions for his classroom next time? Everything Ash had gotten was _go left, right, right, straight, up, left, left and there it is. _Or was it right, left, left, left. Damn, he couldn't even remember it anymore.

So nothing was fine and his mother had been wrong. Ash was standing in the middle of the large hallway which was covered with lockers, some more tidy-looking than the others. The hallway (and entire school building) was painted with the same colors as their uniforms, using only black and white. Maybe it was supposed to make everything look a little more expensive or more serious, but Ash could only think it looked pretty boring. What was so wrong with using a little color, anyway? Every hallway and staircase looked just the same to him as he was supposed to find his class, 3-D, in the next ten minutes based on those crappy instructions Principal Cynthia had given to him. Ash couldn't do anything else but to curse his dumb luck. This school was big, in fact it was the biggest high-school at Castelia City, which happened to be the largest city in the whole Unova. And there he was, a new student (he could already hear the "new boy" jokes in his ears) standing alone in the still empty hallway, wearing a stupid looking white and black school uniform, a brand new timetable in his hands and no idea where to go. He didn't want to embarrass himself even more by knocking the principal's door again to get decent instructions this time but neither did he want to wander alone in the hallways which could make him even more lost than what he already was. Ash was already running an hour late thanks to his mother, Delia, who wouldn't stopped hugging is son, making Ash miss the first buss to school. So there were no other students in the hallways, since they were all in the classrooms already having their first lesson, leaving Ash all alone feeling pretty stupid and annoyed.

He missed Kanto and his sweet little hometown there. This new city was big, way too big for Ash's taste. There were skyscrapers and asphalt as far as you could see. The people were big too, at least when it came to the buss-driver. He had been one scary-looking dude, wearing an army suit and sunglasses and looking all grumpy and nasty kind of guy. Ash had almost thought of walking to school instead of going with a bus. But sadly that would have made him miss even more lessons than what he had already missed. So he had just avoided looking at the driver (Lt. Surge had his personal sign said on his shirt) in the eyes, paid his ride and stolen the last seat of the buss and hoped of becoming invisible. Oh yes, he missed Pallet Town and its friendly people and funny buss-drivers. But his mother had gotten a job here and that had been the end of the peaceful life Ash once had.

Loud ringing of the school's bells snapped Ash back to reality and to his desperate situation. The first classes were finished and Ash had to get moving now, if he wanted to avoid all the students who would come out of their classrooms and notice the lost-looking black haired boy. Everything had been so much better in his previous small school.

"Okay, so first, go left... maybe..." Ash mumbled to himself and walked to the next, narrower, hallway just before all the doors opened behind him and loud chattering covered the not so empty hallways. He hid his timetable inside his jacket and tried to make himself look as lazy and sleepy as all the other students that were now right beside him (he hadn't managed to escape them after all). No one needed to know he was a new transfer student and how big could this school be, anyway? Ash bet he could find the 3-D sign hanging above a door in less than ten minutes without asking directions from anyone. To accomplish this, he took the stairs and headed for the floor above him.

Surprisingly, even with his absolutely perfect disguise (hands in his pockets, a grumpy expression on his face and eyes fixed on the floor) Ash noticed that a few of the students were looking at him with a confused expression on their face like they were trying to think whether he was a new student at school or not. Ash let out a small nervous smile as he was walking past them; he must have imagined that all, there was no way random students would know he was new here. But as there were only six minutes to go before next class would begin, Ash began to look little worried. So far he had only seen first year's student's class-signs on his way. And of course he wasn't feeling nervous at all, it was just a little hot there, that's all. The sweat on his face was all because that damn hot suit he was wearing.

"Are you lost by any chance?"

A sudden questing coming from behind Ash surprised the boy making him jump a little. He turned around and was now facing a little chubby looking black haired boy who was wearing a yellow-black cap backwards, and Ash was pretty sure hats weren't allowed inside of the school. Maybe this kid was some kind of delinquent? But then again, he looked too friendly for that. When Ash was still silent, staring at the happy looking boy, he asked again, "Are you lost? You're new here, right?"

"W-what? H-how did you know?" Ash stuttered when his well-built disguise fell apart in just seconds thanks to this now more and more goofy-looking kid. Black-haired boy just laughed at Ash's flushed appearance and pointed a small white paper hanging on Ash's uniforms sleeve.

"Your uniform still has a price-tag on. So it was pretty obvious that you're new."

Ash felt his face grow hotter. Price-tag, of course, how could he have forgotten that? No wonder those people had stared him; he had a fucking price-tag hanging on his sleeve. _Fucking-great-start,_ he muttered under his breath while tearing apart the white piece of paper and tossing it to the ground. While he glared it evilly, the other boy stepped closer to him and asked, "So which class are you searching, umm..."

"Ash", Ash introduced himself and held his hand for other boy to shake it. Chubby boy looked him a bit funnily, like shaking hands was some kind of hillbilly way of greeting, but then shook hands anyway. "I'm Ethan, a second year student."

"So that makes me your senior, since I'm on a final grade," Ash scratched back of his neck, looking at his watch. He still had three minutes before the bells would ring again. Ethan seemed to notice this. "Which class? I can take you there quickly since I know all the shortcuts pretty well."

"3-D", was the only thing Ash managed to say before Ethan pulled him on his sleeve to running with him through the school's hallways. Yes, they bumped on a few dozen people on the way, but that didn't seem to slow Ethan down, no matter how much Ash wished for it. The younger boy just ran and Ash wondered if he would even notice if Ash went missing during this little trip. He didn't have to time to recognize any of the surroundings or to where they were actually running as everything was just big black and white blur (due the all pupils wearing those colors on their school uniforms).

And then after good two minutes of speed running through the school, Ethan stopped abruptly making Ash bump straight on to his back. He never knew a chubby guy like Ethan could actually run that fast and make Ash feel completely out of breath. And he had always considered himself as a fast runner and athletic person (even when he didn't do any sports)...

"Well, here we finally are. Class 3-D and... woopsie, I really gotta run now, gotta make it to my own class. Bye, bye Ash! It was nice of meeting you, see ya!" Ethan waved quickly farewells and ran off to a direction they had come from leaving Ash catching his breath and leaning to a nearest white wall. "What the fuck..." Ash muttered when he was able to breathe again. Well at least he was at the right place now, more or less thanks to that Ethan kid as the 3-D sign was hanging above him. Of course their run-filled entry had caused a little scene and now the black haired new kid felt how everyone else outside the classroom was staring at him. Yeah, he wasn't looking like a new kid at all, not at all. Suddenly his new white shoes looked very interesting, but sadly they couldn't stop Ash's ears hearing those "dude, is that a new student" comments, he had been afraid of so much.

It wasn't like Ash completely hated being the new kid; he just had some, well rather bad memories. Back in the elementary years, there had been this really big jerk on his class and then the new boy had arrived (which luckily hadn't been Ash) and the teasing had begun immediately. It was less than three weeks when the new boy had stopped coming to school. Ash hadn't even learned his name yet when he was already gone. And the kid had been normal looking too, he hadn't been fat or four-eye or anything, he just happened to be the new kid; that had been all that jerk had needed. So Ash didn't really want the same kind of treatment here; mostly because of his mom. The look on her face this morning had been just... full of joy and love. His little boy (Delia didn't quite get that Ash was already seventeen) was looking so handsome in the new school uniform. She had said it had been her dream as a little girl, when she had lived here before moving to Pallet Town, to wear that black and white uniform and attend this school but her family never had the money needed. But now she had, and her baby-boy was looking so utterly good and adult-like and attending one of the best high-schools around. Words couldn't express how proud she had been of Ash at that moment.

And Ash didn't have a heart to break his mother's dream. So he had kept his mouth shut about the thought that he didn't really want to go this school and would prefer a smaller high-school. After all, it was only one year and sure people nowadays were much more mature than that jerk at his elementary school and nobody would start teasing Ash just because he happened to be the new kid. Right?

"Look at that new dude, has he even brush his hair today? Looks ridiculously messy!"

Oh yeah, expect this was a big city meaning lots of rich-asshole-snobby-bitch kids. How could he have forgotten? Ash glared briefly at two girls who were now giggling and pointing at him. There was nothing wrong with his hair, and yes, he had brushed it this morning. It wasn't like his mother would let him go out without brushing your hair and teeth first (Okay, maybe Delia was a little over-caring when it came to her baby-boy). Ash's black hair just liked being messy all the time, it wasn't his fault and those stupid girls should have stopped laughing already. He just wanted to have a nice final year, was that too much to ask?

"Oh, look at that black-haired kid!"

Apparently it was, as Ash was now being pointed by couple of dark haired boys. Next to a timid looking kid, there was taller boy looking at him...hungrily? (Surely the had had breakfast and didn't confuse him with the food, right?). Ash rubbed his temple, feeling a little uncomfortable as he began to stare the floor. Oh, how he wished he could be back at home already, or just anywhere else, as long it was far away from here. Luckily for him the bells rang and they had to go to the classroom. As the other students took their seats Ash stayed standing by the door waiting for the teacher to come. He hated this part the most; the introduction. It was also the most important part of all. You had to give the perfect first impression or otherwise you'd bullied for the rest of your school year.

_Yeah, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, moved here last week, nice to meet you all. Blaah, blaah, blaah, I like playing video games... no, that will give me the nerd status. Umm, I like... what do I like to do on my free-time? It has to be something really cool... something impressive yet not too wild, someth-_

"Silence, everyone!" A loud voice cut off Ash's thoughts as the impressive looking teacher walked in. Okay, maybe impressive was the wrong word, a weird looking would be more right. The teacher had long dark brown spiky hair and he was wearing nothing but a pair of white training trousers. Ash couldn't help but dropping his jaw a bit. He never thought big city-fashion would be like this. The giant man looked more like he was coming straight from the mountains or training gym, but he was nowhere near to be teacher. And this was the expensive elite-school his mother was dreaming of? The teachers didn't even have money to buy themselves enough clothes!

"And what are you looking at with that dumb-face?" A sharp question was directed to Ash who was now fully aware that the teacher as well as the rest of the class was now staring at him.

"S-Sorry...uh, sir? I'm a new student and-" Ash once again stuttered trying hard not to look as terrified as felt at that moment.

"Sir? And weren't you supposed to be here an hour ago? Mister Ketchum, I assume?"

Ash nodded and wondered what excuse he could come up with as he surely wasn't telling the whole class that he was late because his mom hadn't stopped hugging him in time. "Er, I was... ummm, well something came up and I couldn't make it to the buss on time", the boy smiled nervous. This so wasn't the best beginning he had hoped.

The teacher raised his eyebrows, but for Ash's sake let it be.

"Why don't you just tell us that you over-slept?" The annoying looking boy from the second row smirked and looked Ash with challenging eyes. The boy had brown spiky hair and he looked cocky. Ash already knew he wouldn't like this kid but before he could answer the boy, the teacher stopped them.

"Enough of that, Gary. And you, Ketchum, I'm your homeroom teacher, Mister Bruno. You may introduce yourself and then take whatever empty seat you like, and let's not waste anymore time."

Ash sighed in relief and then waved his hand for the class. "Hi, I'm Ash and I just moved here last week. And... uh, nice to meet you." _I guess... _Some of the students, like that arrogant guy, Gary, looked like they couldn't care less and just stared out of the window. Some of the girls looked at Ash with the interest (it was a good thing, right? If the girls liked him, maybe nobody was going to bully him). Especially one girl with the flaming orange hair that looked at him with seductive eyes and made Ash sweat a little. Maybe he was done with the introducing and it was time to take a seat.

There were three possible choices. One was on the first row and was immediately out of question if Ash wanted to avoid the nerd-status. The second choice was next to that Gary-kid and no way Ash was gonna sit there since they would probably annoy the hell out of each other. So it was the choice number three then. It was a nice looking seat next to the window (how could a window seat be free anyway, Ash wondered) and was on the third row, far away enough from Gary and that seductive looking orange-haired girl (so maybe Ash was a little afraid of girls and especially flirt-looking ones, but what boy wouldn't be...).

Ash grabbed his backpack and sat down on that seat number three getting some pity looks from other students but the boy didn't really know why. The seat was in a proper shape, there wasn't any rebellion looking people around and overall everything seemed pretty normal. Ash recognized the shy looking boy from the hallway sitting in front of him, as well his hungry looking buddy behind Ash. To his right there was sitting a normal looking nerdy guy, with black hair and glasses. So what was so wrong with this seat?

The shy looking guy in front of him turned around and gave a little smile to Ash. "You're pretty brave to be sitting there."

Ash raised his eyebrows, "Why's that? Is there something wrong with this seat?"

The other boy shook his head. "Not with your seat, but when it comes to the seat behind it... well, you'll see soon enough." Then he turned back letting Ash to wonder what the heck was going on. He looked over his shoulder just to see another black haired boy looking at him, smiling widely. "Hi there!"

"Uh...hi?" Ash greeted the boy with reserved tone. He was pretty normal looking if you excluded that crazy grin on his face. But there was something similar about this kid when comparing to that orange-haired girl and that had scared Ash.

"I'm Brendan, nice to meet you." The boy smiled at him and Ash felt pretty relieved, there obviously wasn't anything to be afraid of. "I'm Ash as you might have heard just a minute ago." Ash nodded and let out a small smile. So far everything was going pretty well, he had no enemies (expect that Gary, Ash could feel they wouldn't be friends anytime soon) and was already befriending with this kid.

"I like your name, Ash." Brendan licked his lips, making Ash shiver a bit.

"Umm, thanks? I guess..."

"No problem, honey-pie", Brendan winked at Ash, making the boy turn slowly in disbelief to face the chalkboard again. _Okay, what the hell? Was I getting the seductive vibes there just now? No wonder this seat was free, that kid's crazy! _The timid boy in front of him turned around once again sending a brief apologetic look to Ash almost like saying "what did I say"_._

"Cheren, you take it from here, I have to get to the teachers' meeting. Everything you need to inform your classmates, is in that note I sent you." Bruno was talking again before heading off from the door. Ash looked when the nerdy-looking boy who was sitting next to him, stood up and took the teacher's seat in front of the class. So he was probably the class president, at least he looked like a one.

"Can you make it quick Cheren, so we can get a free hour since Bruno left and all?" Gary yelled from the other side of class making Cheren looking really annoyed. Obviously Ash wasn't the only person who disliked Gary.

"No Gary, I can't as you know very well", Cheren hissed before raising his hand for the attention. "So as some of you might know, Bruno is leaving next week for his annual training in mountains and we're having a new teacher to replace him. And-"

"WHOA, what? Who's going to replace Bruno? Please don't tell me it's his cousin Marshal again. He was even stricter than Bruno..." Ash heard Brendan yelling in surprise behind him.

"I don't know yet, Brendan, but it's not gonna be Marshal this year. But apparently it's some guy Bruno had met on the mountains." Cheren explained and Ash could hear Brendan sighing "oh man" in disappointment. "And as for the other things", Cheren continued, "You need to decide the club activity you're joining this year, today. If you decide to stick with your last year's club it's no problem, but if you want to change it, you need to let the club manager to know about it."

The rest of Cheren's speech went unheard when Ash realized he needed to decide his club today. He didn't have a clue what clubs there even were. His last school had been so small, that they only had two clubs, one for sports and one for arts. But for this kind of huge school there had to be at least tons of different clubs. "How the hell am I ever gonna choose... I don't even like club activities that much", Ash worried hiding his head to his hands.

"You know, if you don't know where to join, you can join to same club where I am. We usually just hang out after school, so it's pretty easy and fun", the boy who was sitting in front of Ash, suddenly said with a small smile. "Huh, really?" Ash asked thankfully.

"Yeah, it's one floor above this, first door to the right. Lets meet there after school then", boy advised before turning his attention back to the Cheren who was again arguing about something with Gary. Ash just sighed and wondered if he was gonna make anymore friends in this class. It wasn't awfully big class, only about 20 people, which was a bit of a surprise since the school was so huge. Maybe this was some kind of trouble makers-class, Ash had heard of those. They always had only few people so that the teachers could keep an eye on them. But so far, these people looked pretty normal. Well, that was if you didn't count that jerk, Gary, and that weird Brendan kid (as Ash was now almost certain he had heard few "delicious looking ass" whispers behind his back).

Ash let Cheren speak as he began to study his other new classmates secretly. There was this weird boy with a longest green hair Ash had ever seen. He was spacing out resting his cheek onto his hand but other than that, the boy looked perfectly normal (well as normal as you could look with that kind of freakish hair). Next to him was girl with the long brown curly ponytail hairdo. She was looking the greenhaired boy a bit worried. Maybe she was worried that the boy wasn't listening what Cheren said at all. Well, it wasn't like half of the class was paying any attention anymore either. Behind the girl, there was a blond airhead looking girl playing cards with a blond bored looking boy. Ash was a little shocked that they didn't even try to hide their game. This was either normal, or then they knew Cheren wouldn't get angry or tell Bruno. Obviously Gary wasn't listening and neither was the orange-haired girl next to him. Behind the girl was a shockingly similar looking boy as Ash himself, only the boy had brown hair (Ash so needed to ask his mother tonight whether he had any lost twin brothers here, or not). He was staring at the orange-haired girl dreamily and Ash was pretty sure there was a slight blush on the boy's cheeks. _Oh, okay, I see..._ Ash thought, hiding his amusement with a small cough. Behind that trio, there were couple of students hiding themselves behind the large comic magazines and a purple haired guy who just stared the ceiling and wasn't paying any attention either. Ash sighed when turning his face toward the window next to him. This looked nothing but a normal class.

_Maybe I'll survive after all. _Ash though letting his gaze wander over the huge school yard trying to not to think about how hungry he suddenly felt.

Afternoon classes had gone in a blink and Ash had gotten to know some of his new classmates more (without really talking to them, because apparently students didn't really chat with each others that much during the strict lessons). Gary was definitely the most annoying person on the planet. It seemed that every time Ash had something to say, Gary had to say it first, whether it was an answer for the teacher or just random comment or a question. And if Ash finally managed to say something, there was an instant taunting counter-attack from Gary's mouth and dear lord it pissed Ash off. And yet, that goddamn cocky boy seemed to be one of the most popular boys in their class or maybe in the entire school. Say one bad thing about Gary, and you'll never get rid of his loyal fanclub. As Ash had noticed when some scary looking chick had just confronted him from nowhere on the lunch break and told him he shouldn't annoy Gary that much if he wanted the nice rest of the year. And she was quickly gone too, before Ash had got a chance to yell her "who's annoying who here?" back.

And that Brendan, kid, oh god. He was... how should Ash describe him? Brendan seemed hornier than the whole classroom of young teenage boys put together. He had tried to flirt with Ash, and with the boy in front of Ash the whole day. Hell, he had flirted even with Gary! Ash was already sick of the comments about how nice his ass looked or how the school uniform fit him just perfectly. That was obviously sexual harassment, and yet, nobody had told Brendan to stop, instead of that they all looked just amused when Brendan was doing his normal show. And the truth to be told, Ash would rather being bullied with the traditional way than being hit on all the time. Now he completely understood why that perfect looking seat had been still available. He would go crazy within a week with this kind of flirting speed.

So, thank God, for the club activities, he would have had a free afternoon without Brendan OR Gary. Hanging out with the timid looking kid from the seat in front of him sounded pretty cool. The kid was nice and Ash could feel they could become great friends after getting to know more of each other.

"I hope this is the right door. Hello?" Ash knocked the door after the school had ended, letting himself in a shady room. It sure didn't look like a clubroom at all. There was a big table in the middle of the room, couple of chairs and a comfy looking couch near the only window. But no signs anywhere that you could actually practice something special here. Maybe he had gotten lost again and this time Ethan wasn't saving him. As Ash was about to turn away already, someone finally stepped out from the shadows. "Ash, hi, you found this place!

"Sorry I didn't answer right away, I was getting some food. Man I'm hungry... but come on in", the shy boy greeted him making Ash sigh in relief; he was at the right place after all.

"Hi, yeah, it wasn't so hard to find this place after all", Ash smiled as he stepped inside closing the door behind him. "Umm, so, what kind of club is this, anyway? Literature? Manga? Astronomy? Sorry to say, but this only looks like a normal room..." Ash asked while sitting down beside the large table.

The boy in front of him was holding a muffin with his other hand and offered another one to Ash, who gladly accepted the food. "Haha, yeah, this is a card-game club. But basically we just chit-chat with each others, eat sweets and lose the first round in the tournaments couple of times in a year."

Ash grinned. "Sounds just like the club I was looking for. I'm too lazy to do anything real anyway."

The boy smiled at him apologetic. "Oh yeah, and there's one more thing I forgot to mention to you and I probably should warn you before he-"

But the boy never got to finish his sentence as the door opened again and the familiar looking black haired kid entered the room. Ash groaned loudly when he saw who it was.

"I can't believe you actually managed to get him here. Lucas, I love you so much right now that I could kiss you if only you'd let me! Ooh, this year's gonna be awesome!" Brendan yelled looking extremely happy when he saw that Ash was in the classroom. The said boy looked over at Lucas raising both of his eyebrows making the other boy looking very guilty. "Look, I can... I can explain", he pleaded and shot an angry look towards Brendan who had already sat next to Ash.

"So, gorgeous, I heard you wanted to join our club, isn't that right?" Brendan flirted making Ash feeling extremely uncomfortable. "Look Br-" he started, but Lucas interrupted him putting his free hand on Brendan's shoulder.

"Brendan, please, don't scare the hell out of him on the first day."

"But Lucaa-aas", Brendan whined when his seduction was put an end.

"No but, we owe him at least that much. And by the way Ash, I'm so, so, so sorry that I had to trick you here. Brendan made me do it. He sent me a text message saying he wouldn't be my friend anymore if I didn't try to sweet-talk you to join our club..." Lucas said apologetically offering the third muffin to Brendan.

Brendan showed his tongue towards Lucas but took the muffin anyway. "That's right, make _me _the bad guy here... And by the way, even if you had failed, I would still want to be your friend, Lucas."

"So anyway..." Lucas continued ignoring his friend, "I'm Lucas and this little gay is Brendan", he introduced himself to Ash who was keeping an eye en Brendan who hadn't still moved even an inch further from him.

"Oy, I'm not gay", Brendan began to pout and Ash couldn't help but a chuckle a little. If Brendan wasn't gay, he didn't know who was.

"Oh, so you weren't thinking about hitting on Ash on the lunch break?" Lucas teased.

"Well... It's not like I could help it. I mean, he is pretty hot. And that ass, with it I could just-"

"HEY! I'm still here. So please, no need to continue this any further", Ash yelled waving his hands rapidly before Brendan could end his sentence. "And Brendan, I'm sorry to say this, but... umm, I don't exactly swing that way."

"Oh man... why are all the hot guys straight? I mean what's the point of living if I'll graduate still being a virgin!" Brendan frowned beside him making Lucas laugh.

"Don't mind him Ash, he's always like that, trying to hit on everything that moves."

Ash gave him a questionable look, "Even you?"

"Let's save that story for another time, it's not exactly a pleasant memory. But more importantly, do you still want to join our club even when that little creep is around here ("Hey, I'm not a creep, Lucas you're so mean!") everyday?"

Ash gave Brendan a small unsure look. Well it was a perfect club for a lazy-ass as him and Lucas was nice and Brendan was... well, Brendan. But if there was a chance that he would join a another club with Gary in it... Then this club didn't sound so bad after all. And besides, Brendan would probably give up on him soon, if he just kept rejecting him long enough. And the duo was kinda funny making Ash feel relaxed. Oh, and those muffins were damn good.

"Oh well, I guess I might as well join this", Ash finally answered smiling a little, making Brendan yell "yay" in excitement and throwing himself on top of Ash as they both fell on the floor. "I knew you'd join us, honey-pie!" The boy hugged Ash tight making his victim to gasp for more air.

"Brendanhh, pleashe..." Ash coughed, fighting the overjoyed boy trying to get rid of him. Lucas could only laugh which only ended up making him feel guilty of Ash's current pretty tight situation and rushing to the rescue.

Finally, Ash was free again and Brendan was being scolded by Lucas ("What did I tell you about hugging people suddenly?"). He might be a new kid at school, but somehow that though didn't disturb him that much anymore. With the new friends like these two, Ash was sure he was able to enjoy this last year of high-school somehow.

And have his first but definitely not last, last word with that ass, Gary.


	3. Girls are scary

**A/N: **Krhm, so this chapter has been ready like what, two or three months already. So I'm kinda late uploading this... :'D Anyways, thanks for all the nice reviews again! Btw, it's pretty hard to write High-school fic, no wonder I haven't write that "genre" yet. I mean, how can I possibly make this more unique and not like all the other Poke-school AU fics here... Well alright, sorry for typos and bad grammar again! Don't let it bother you too much! (And feel free to point mistakes so I can correct them!) :D

**CHAPTER 2 – GIRLS ARE SCARY**

Ash knew he should have been thankful for his two new friends, Lucas and Brendan, for showing him around the huge school. And he was, at least for a little. The thing was, he would have appreciated the normal detour more than this _thing_ they had going on right now. Lucas was walking in front of them, maybe to hide his amusement or embarrassment, Ash didn't really know or care. And then behind Lucas came Ash with Brendan. They were close, really close. The kind of closeness that made Ash's face beaming red and Brendan giggling with happiness. The other boy had insisted they just had to walk arm in arm, bodies basically squashed together, because no other way would do the job as well. Brendan had explained that the closeness of their bodies would give Ash good vibes about the school and make him like it sooner. _Yeah, right, you little horny bastard, _Ash had thought in a half angry tone. Brendan wasn't exactly a bastard, he was just annoying as hell. At least at this moment. So, there they were, Ash and Brendan walking side by side, arm in arm. Ash feeling like a complete idiot, his face being bright red and all that stuff. Brendan was clearly enjoying himself more than he should have at Ash's cost. The boy was all giggly, in a very bad girly way, and acted like two boys being this close and looking this lovey-dovey was the most normal thing in the whole world. _Which it wasn't! _Ash wanted to scream at Brendan. But instead of making loud noise he just sighed in defeat and let Brendan drag him around like a human sized doll (Ash just hoped he wasn't _that kind of _doll to Brendan. Because there he would draw an impermeable line).

"Lucaaas..." Ash whined when Brendan was proudly showing him to everyone like he was his new pretty boyfriend while they were walking past the gym, "can't you do something about Brendan? I don't want to be known as his boytoy or something worse! It's only my second day in the school too..."

Lucas turned around and smiled apologetic, "sorry Ash. I kinda lost a bet again last night and promised Brendan not to interfere with his flirting today..."

"Again? Why are you making those bets all the time? And why does it seem like I'm always the one suffering your defeats..." Ash sighed and was about to rest his head against Brendan's shoulder before quickly releasing that it would have been a huge mistake and a wrong sign to the other boy. As Ash didn't want to encourage Brendan even more. Or neither did he want to know why had Lucas been with Brendan last night. Yes, he appreciated having new friends, but sometimes things would have been easier without them.

"Aww, Ash. Lucas just sucks at card games. And besides I love when you're playing all hard to get around me. You know it really turns me on", Brendan smirked and licked Ash ear causing the other boy jump in horror.

"Anyway! Why don't we go to watch the basketball training for a while now? You know Brendan, lots of hot sweaty guys to watch!" Lucas finally decided to help Ash when it seemed the other boy would soon faint from all that tongue-work and flirting. Brendan's face lit up in a second when he heard Lucas' proposal. "Man, you are the best! I'd already forgotten about the whole basketball practice this morning! C'mon Ash, I'll show you something really wonderful!"

As usual Ash didn't have to time to refuse when Brendan was already dragging him towards the gym's doors. Lucas followed them smiling a little, "he'll let go of you soon, when he sees the players, so don't worry." And Ash could only hope for the best.

He could never get a girl if this went on for much longer. Being recognized as a homo with Brendan. Well, it wasn't like it was Ash's goal to get a girl or anything like that, but the idea seemed pretty nice. And it was part of the high-school experience anyway. Wasn't it? Making out with the pretty girlfriend... Ash felt something turn upside down in his stomach. If the whole truth were to be told, the idea of making out didn't excite him that much, and girls were pretty scary too. Okay, a lot scary. They were so loud, moved in the big giggling groups being always happy and worst, angry in the next second. They demanded you to buy they pretty things and use your last allowance on them. You had to watch embarrassing chick flicks with them, kiss in public, (Ash felt his cheeks grow redder, he could never to do that!) hold hands even when it was very unmanly and bunch of other stuff Ash didn't really care about. But his friends had had girlfriends in his previous school and they had always been teasing Ash about how he didn't have one or how dense he was when it came to these things (but they had been wrong! Ash wasn't dense, he knew this stuff very well, so he could avoid it at all costs). And they had been saying it was really great after all, having your own sweetheart. So Ash had decided to get one here. How hard it could be, anyway? He would get used to girls, in a way or another and grow as a man. Plus maybe then his mother would finally realize his son wasn't a little boy anymore. Yes, he had decided to overcome his fear of girls and get a girlfriend, no matter what.

"Hello? Earth to Ash! You can't be that deep in thoughts when the whole gym is filled with lovely muscles and wet shirts!" Brendan was waving his hand in front of Ash face making the other boy realize he was free from Brendan's grip, as they were now sitting on the side of the gym apparently watching school's basketball team having it's club practice. The training suits players had, were, big surprise, white and black colored. A little usage of those colors would have been cool, but when it was all over place like this, it was just too much. Well, at least the gym was painted reddish brown which was nice change. The gym itself was so much bigger than in Ash's previous school. It looked like you could have basketball's world championship tournament here, and still all the people wanting to see it, would have a seat.

"What are you doing? Don't look at the walls, look at the players! Wait, let me introduce them to you!" Brendan was now elbowing him as Ash was clearly paying attention for the wrong things. Ash could only sigh in his mighty annoyance. It wasn't like Lucas was watching players either as he was texting to somebody next to Ash. But nooo, Brendan didn't give a crap about that, Lucas could do whatever he wanted but when Ash was staring walls for a more than two seconds he was granted with a skinny elbow almost hitting his right eye.

"Geez, sorry..." Ash sighed when over-enthusiastic Brendan began to point players for Ash. Fine, he was doing this one final gay thing today with Brendan, but nothing more. No more arm in arm walking after this whole checking-out-the-hot-players -thing!

"Their teacher is that man over there, you see the giant red 'fro? His name's Flint and... well, he's not really that hot. I mean, well technically he is, but he's more the fun, care-free type than the sexy type, which I prefer. Or maybe it's just that 'fro. Because, I would totally date his little brother if I could. You see the hot boy over there? Same kind of flaming red hair with the hint of orange. The one, who just got the ball. With Buck I would definitely..." Brendan was more drooling rather than explaining. Ash was feeling a bit awkward sitting on the stands, checking out the players. Brendan even asked what he though about Flint and was he really pretty hot or not. Ash gave the boy some serious dead glares, but when his new friend didn't seem to care at all, only demanding the answer (which eventually was "I guess he's not that hot or sexy", just to please Brendan) Ash gave up. Besides the players in the gym there was them three, and the bunch of giggling girls which technically made them giggling girls too... At least Brendan was giggling while Ash just wanted to go underground and hide there forever. He had this very strong feeling that the half of the girls were giggling because of them not because they wanted to be all girly in front of the "hot" players. The players were obviously finishing their training, as few of them were already chatting with the girls in the lower stand (much to Brendan's despise) and drinking fresh water from their bottles. Hearing the disappointed sighs beside him, when nobody was going to come flirt with them, made Ash wonder did Brendan really understand, that not all boys were into these kind of things?

"As you probably guessed already, being the trainer's little brother, Buck is the star of team. Well, together with Chili, they are some hot-tempered guys, I'm telling you. I wouldn't mind threesome with them either or-"

Apparently no. Ash rolled his eyes and changed a meaningful look with Lucas who had finally put his cellphone back to his pocket and was looking as bored as Ash while Brendan continued his rant about the players. Their card-game club had some weird schedules. Ash was pretty sure, it was all Brendan's doing. There was swimming club watching/drooling on Mondays, Basketball club stalking on Wednesdays (which was going on right now) and flirting with the outdoor clubs on Fridays. Lucas had told, they did play cards every Tuesdays and Thursdays were just for the goofing off in the club room, eating snacks and having fun. But seriously, three days a week just watching guys? If that didn't turn Ash gay he didn't know what would. His "dreams" of getting a nice girlfriend were slipping away from him big time.

"So, how do you stand it? I mean being with Brendan all the time and checking on the guys?" Ash whispered to Lucas' ear, ignoring Brendan's rant who got the redder hair, Buck or Chili. Timid boy shrugged his shoulder and suddenly looked a bit sad. "Well, Brendan isn't really that bad, once you ignore all the seductive-stuff. And... I don't think you you know this yet, but I'm actually two years younger than you or Brendan. I skipped couple of classes in elementary school because everyone was telling me how clever I was and I pretty much knew all the stuff back then anyway. All my friends have just started their high-school on the other side of the town, so it's not like I have tons of friends here or anything. And when Brendan wanted to hang around me, flirting or not, I humbly accepted." Lucas explained staring the floor while playing with his shoelaces. Ash didn't really know what to say. He felt that he had asked something he probably shouldn't have. Suddenly the dark haired boy felt like apologizing which he also did.

"Umm, I'm sorry, Lucas. I didn't know. I shouldn't have asked." Ash bit his lips and rest his hand on Lucas' shoulder to show his support. The younger boy met his eyes and for a moment Ash didn't know what to expect, when suddenly Lucas burst out of laughter.

"C'mon, no need to be so serious! It's not like somebody died or anything! I'm just a little shy, that's all", Lucas laughed and made Ash wondering if he had just imagined the brief sadness on his friend's face. "But still", he continued ignoring Brendan's comment about how good some Tracey- guy looked today and asked again, "how can you deal with this much of gayness everyday! I mean he's actually forcing me to decide are guys cute or sexy! It's just so...gay for the straight guys like us, right?"

"I..." Lucas stuttered and maybe it was only Ash's imagination once more, but it looked like the other boy's cheeks just got redder.

"You are straight, right?" Ash raised his eyebrow.

"I... of- of course I am! Geez..." Lucas hissed turning his head away, maybe to hide his red cheeks, Ash wasn't entirely sure. "But I think we should go now. It's not going to be long before the morning club activities are over and the classes begin", younger boy stood up and threw his backpack at Brendan to get his attention. "We are going now, so clean up your drool, and come. You too Ash!"

Brendan showed his tongue at Lucas but then happily grabbed Ash by his hand muttering himself something about how he would make those players jealous with little help from Ash's cuteness. It actually made Ash feeling a bit bothered. He did not like being called cute, at least not anymore. His mother always said how cute his baby boy looked. His friends from the previous school had stated Ash being a real baby-face and cutie pie and it really pissed Ash off! He was not cute! You didn't go call guys cute. Guys, like Ash, were good-looking, or at least handsome, but not cute. Trying to look like a proper 17-year-old boy was hard enough (Cynthia, when first seeing Ash, had wondered where was his big brother, who was going to attend this school and was Ash in junior high and in which class) even without being called cute. He would so show to Brendan, that he was more the handsome type than cute and then...

...then what?

"What the hell, I don't need to show anything to him. What am I even thinking..." Ash slapped himself on his forehead. He needed to do something very manly after school to keep himself sane. Maybe he would chop some wood shirtless or wash his car (or maybe not, Ash didn't have a car and he wasn't so sure if it was that manly anyway). But something like that would definitely help after this.

They were arriving back to the hallway where their classroom was located and Ash frowned. Gary was already there. During their two first clubroom lessons black-haired boy had already almost forgotten that that ass was in the same class him. Gary noticed Ash arriving arms linked with Brendan (Ash had forgotten all about his promise, about not doing anything gay after the gym session) and made a suggestive looking smirk which instantly set Ash boiling over and wanting just to go and punch that egoistic jerk in the face. But that would have caused too much trouble and Ash surely didn't want that, at least not in his second day. But when the first week would be gone, there wasn't anything to hold him back then.

"I think Gary approves us as a couple. Did you see his wonderful smile?" Brendan said dreamily while staring at the spiky haired boy's direction. _Wonderful smile, really Brendan? _Ash wanted to bang his head to the wall. There was no help from Lucas either, as he was texting again to somebody ignoring two of his friends completely. Ash was about to complain but then remembered what Lucas had said about him not having lots of friends in this school, and decided to keep his mouth shut. Maybe he should text to some of his old friends too and make Brendan leave him alone too. Since at the moment Brendan just ignored his friend's moaning and continued happily "you do think we are a cute couple, right Ash?"

Ash looked over Brendan with the annoyed expression saying "seriously Brendan", but of course the other boy didn't get it. Or at least pretended of not getting it. "Look, didn't I just tell you yesterday that I'm not into men, and we are not couple, and definitely not a cute one", Ash explained once more tugging his hand free from Brendan's grip. The other boy's smile faded a little and for a moment Brendan looked almost defeated making Ash feeling guilty, before putting his idiotic smile back up. "I know... I guess I just keep on trying harder then, eh?"

Ash raised his eyebrow. "Now, why would you need to try harder, there's easier fishes to catch in the sea, you know?"

Before Brendan could answer a clear high voice reached them. "Hey, Ash!"

It was the orange-haired girl from their class approaching them waving happily at Ash and seeming to ignore Brendan's existence completely. Ash waved his hand back feeling a little nervous; he didn't even know the girl's name and she seemed all too familiar with him already. And neither had Ash forgotten the scary-looking seductive eyes from yesterday.

"Hi, umm..." Ash replied when the girl was by their side still smiling ever so lovingly. Ash felt a little easier now; she didn't look as scary anymore, just a normal cute high-school girl wearing her black short jacket, black skirt and high stockings.

"The name's Misty", Misty smiled and hold his hand for Ash to shake. The boy shook hands happily; he was making another friend, and it felt great. Brendan on the other hand looked like he had swallowed poison and glared Misty angrily. "So, Misty, what's your _business_ here?" Brendan asked crossing his arms, taking a half step closer to Ash without the other boy really noticing.

The girl's smiled transformed into a huge yet innocent looking grin, "my business, Brendan? Am I not allowed to make new friends anymore?"

Much to Brendan's despise, Ash took Misty's side too. "Yeah, don't you think that was pretty rude?" Brendan opened his mouth ready to give some witty comeback but decided to back off instead. He made little "hmph" sound, turning around feeling hurt and walking over to Lucas. He had tried to warn Ash, but if he wanted it to go this way, then fine, he was so out of here. Ash would come to him eventually, after seeing Misty's true colors... and her temperament.

"So Ash... you're new to this town then? Have you had a change to hang around yet?" Misty continued moving to the front of Ash and making sure he wouldn't run after Brendan or anything else stupid like that. The gesture made Ash feel a little awkward, thanks to this sudden closeness from the Misty's side, but he smiled bravely because he wasn't totally feeling scared. What? He wasn't! "Yeah, we just moved in couple of days ago and I've been pretty much just staying at home arranging stuff to their right places and helping mom."

Misty clapped her hands together looking like Ash had just said something she had really wanted to hear. "That's excellent!"

"It is?" Ash asked confused about the girl's behavior. This was the exact reason why he didn't care too much about girls, they were too confusing, you could never nail down what they were exactly thinking. What was so exciting about Ash staying at home? Guys would have said something like "you're a pussy for helping out your mother" and then made more fun of him. And Ash would have understood that! It was so much easier with the guys... _No, just hold on a second mister! If you really want to have a girlfriend, you can't go on bashing girls in your mind! Or maybe Brendan's company has already affected you and you're turning into a homo..._

"Of course it is! This means I can show you around the city!" Misty took Ash's hand and made the boy stop mentally talking to himself and start trying to back off. "Eh, what?" Ash asked nervously when the girl all too suddenly was entering too deep into his personal pace and squeezing his hand in hers. Their noses were almost touching which made Ash trying desperately to think of a way to escape. He was feeling way too awkward at the moment and the sweet cologne Misty was using, made his head feel dizzy. There was no help from the Brendan's side either. He was looking as grumpy as ever and Ash was pretty sure, the other boy thought he deserved this. Lucas on the other hand, just gave him thumbs up, like this was his great chance or something. What a bunch of great friends...

"You don't want me to?" Misty asked sounding sad when Ash didn't reply right away. Her big cerulean eyes made it difficult to deny anything. But Ash still wanted to give it a go, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Lucas's thumbs were right, this was his chance. But... Ash just felt like he wasn't ready yet. Like how you can always talk about starting to clean up your room but not actually ever doing that. Ash did want a girlfriend, but this was only his second day and Misty was pretty much the first the girl he had talked here (Well, technically Cynthia was the first, but she was about the same age as his mother, so no) and this all just seemed so rushed!

"It's not like that! It's just...umm... Lucas and Brendan have already promised to do that. But thanks for the offer anyway!" Ash apologized, finally shaking his hand free from Misty's tight grip. The girl didn't look at him for the moment but Ash felt like she was shaking a bit. Had he made the first girl who had talked to him, to cry? He touched Misty's arm worried. "Look, I didn-"

"Look yourself mister", an angry shout came from Misty's mouth when she looked back at Ash making one thing clear; she hadn't been crying, it was the rage that had shaken her. Another thing Ash hated about girls; the goddamn mood swings! One moment happy and lovely and the other second they were beating his ass. "Look, I'm trying _really_ hard here to be nice and girly! You have no idea what kind of efforts it's taking from me. So, if you don't want to be found in the alley badly beaten up, you better take my offer!" Misty glared at him obviously still trying to pull of that "sweet" smile of hers but failing pretty miserable. Her fingers were dangerously close at Ash's neck making the boy gulp in fear.

"Y-yes ma'am!" He agreed almost immediately hoping Misty wouldn't kill him. What had he gotten himself into?

The answer surprisingly made Misty smile normally again but despite her again lovely and cute face, Ash feared her for his life, that smile was anything but truthfully sweet! "Aww, thanks Ash! I knew you would know what's best for you. Maybe I can even think of giving you the part of the prize money", Misty giggled (Ash wondered if that had taken efforts as well, since it wasn't the most girlish giggle he had ever heard) and suddenly awkwardly hugged Ash tightly making the other boy blush from the touch. It felt like everyone was staring at him once again. And indeed they were, at least Gary, with glaring eyes that made Ash feel somewhat victorious. He smirked to himself, ignoring his fear of girls, when hugging Misty back. The look at Gary's face was worth it. Ash was the super cool new kid who had come and taken Gary's sweet little girl all to himself. At least for a moment. It wasn't like Ash really wanted to take Misty away from Gary and his own clone (who looked like he was ready to jump out of the window after seeing Misty hugging another boy), but he would definitely take the piss out of Gary by agreeing to Misty's suggestion to show him around the city. And this hug was just to prove everyone he wasn't Brendan's little boytoy.

When they finally separated, Misty was beaming. She waved her hand as goodbye for Ash, "since you agreed, why don't we go out to date instead! It's a deal then, Ash dear", she also mentioned briefly before turning away.

_Date? Dear?_

"What? That's not what I agreed into!" Ash stopped Misty by grabbing her backpack and pulling her pack, demanding an explanation. He did not want to date anyone from this school so soon, yet to this scary manipulative chick. Misty turned around, looking once more like she was ready to kill Ash at that instant. Her backpack looked heavy and Ash knew it would hurt if she'd hit him with it. "It isn't?" Misty spat the words out angrily and yet keeping them quiet enough so the others wouldn't hear.

"I-it isn't? Hah, I was... I was only joking! Date it is!" Ash denied his previous words hoping to save himself. The fake smile once again covered Misty's mouth. "Now, it wasn't that hard, wasn't it? Come here for a sec, I'll have to let the others hear it too!"

Before Ash was dragged away together with Misty, Brendan had come back to his side, grabbing Ash's other arm. "That was low, Misty! You're cheating!"

The girl only showed his tongue at Brendan. "Everything is acceptable in love, or more like in bet and war. It's not my fault that you failed."

_Failed? What? Huh? _Ash was completely lost about what were Misty and Brendan talking about. They both glared each other like mortal enemies or something. Ash was a little afraid they were gonna rip him half soon if they didn't calm down. Brendan let go his grip first and smiled knowingly. "Well, the bet isn't over until you've actually been in a date with Ash. So there's plenty of time to me to stop that."

"I'd like to see you try, gay-boy", Misty hissed. "The date's on Saturday, prepare yourself Ash! I ain't losing to that weirdo."

Brendan was about to answer back when somebody coughed behind them. It was the bored looking purple haired boy from their class. And he didn't look exactly happy or interested in life today either. The boy glared down at Ash who didn't know should he flinch from his gaze or glare back, so he decided to do little of both and ended up looking apologetic with challenging gaze. Brendan and Misty who obviously both knew their classmate better, looked just unamused.

"What do you want, Paul?" Brendan asked not even bothering to flirt with him, which surprised Ash.

"You're blocking the whole hallway." Paul said without any hint of smile in his lips.

"Well, oops, sorry", Misty said sarcastically and moved from the way, making Ash wondering why they were both so cold towards this boy. Without thanking her, Paul stepped forward, just to stop beside Ash.

"I see the new kid is already causing troubles", he said in bored tone to Ash without really looking at him. Ash felt his cheek reddening a bit, thanks to his hot temper. It wasn't his fault that both Misty and Brendan had decided to hang onto him and block the whole hallway.

"It isn't my fa-" Ash started to protest but Paul just raise his hand to silence him.

"I really don't care", he said walking away, leaving Ash now fully glaring at him. If he didn't care, then why the hell had Paul even started to pick the fight with him? (Saying, that he had already caused problems, was picking up the fight, right?) Not only he was in the same class as Gary but with this jerk too. Why did he always attracted the attention of this kind of people?

"Just ignore him, Paul's always like that. You should have seen the first day when I though he was hot and tried to flirt with him in the therapy..." Brendan face-palmed when the unpleasant memory run through with him. He had been pretty stupid back then and sometimes it felt like the bruise was still there reminding him not flirt with the gloomy purple haired kid.

Ash ignored Misty's "geez Brendan, don't share your gay-stories so openly" and stared after Paul; the boy had chosen the wall furthest of all their classmates and sat there, not communicating with anyone. Ash just stuck up his nose, he didn't really care if the boy had friends or not, not until he would change his attitude towards other people and mostly – towards him. Only then he registered that Misty had left back to Gary and Ash's clone's company leaving her phone number in Ash's hand. And more importantly, what Brendan had said.

"In the therapy? You go in the therapy? Geez, I never knew your flirting obsession was _that _bad", Ash asked, putting Misty's number away, staring shockingly at Brendan who rolled his eyes.

"Idiot. It's not for that! I'm proud of my flirting skills! And it's not real therapy anyway, it's just a small circle of people with dad -problems." When Ash didn't seem to get it, Brendan continued, feeling a little annoyed, he didn't like to talk about this topic. Not at school anyway.

"My dad is a boxing coach, and is a bit hot tempered and... well, let just say, I'm not the kind of son he had exactly hoped for... so we fight pretty often and it's pretty bad."

Ash nodded eagerly and couldn't avoid asking, "and Paul's in the same therapy or circle, or whatever you wanna call it. Does he fight with his dad too?"

Brendan shifted his weight uncomfortably, and scratched the back of his head, "well, not really. I don't know if I should be telling this, but his dad is... apparently some kind of leader of the big factor and he's never home, so it's pretty much just Paul and his brother or something like that. Paul really isn't the most talkative person in our group. My guess is, that his brother made him go there anyway. Lucas' friend, Barry, goes there too, since he's so competitive with his dad and then there's another younger guy, Silver. He's there because his father is the leader of some nasty crime organization and is currently in jail. And then there's N, he's in our class by the way, you can't have missed the huge junk of the green hair. Well his dad is some kind of hippie activist... and I don't actually know that much about him. N is pretty quiet, must be the hard childhood or something... Oh, and of course my neighbor is there too. I always forgot about May, since she's the only girl there and as you know, I never pay too much attention to the girls anyway", Brendan ended his long explanation looking bit embarrassed from revealing such a secrets. Lucas had joined them after hearing the Barry -part, but didn't seem to show any kind of reaction. Maybe he had hear this all before.

Ash felt his eyes widening, he never knew so many people had dad problems here. "Can I come too, I don't even know my dad, does that count as a dad issue?" he decided to joke when he felt the mood had gotten pretty heavy. Brendan just made a face and Lucas, who had finally put this cellphone away, laughed at Ash. "Then you are just like the half of the school!"

"That's true", Brendan added and hit Ash hard on the back. "Although I'm a little sad I have to ask your hand from you mother then. With fathers it's always so much cooler..."

"You need to ask my _what?"_ Ash yelped making Brendan grin widely.

Yeah, girls were scary.

But sometimes boys were too. Especially Brendan.


End file.
